1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to substance detection and more particularly to identifying concentrations of ammonia. Still more particularly, the present disclosure provides a method and system for determining when an amount of ammonia is in a selected amount for a number of compartments.
2. Background
A spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and space tourism. Spacecraft are used to deliver materials and retrieve materials from the space station. Different materials may be retrieved for different reasons. However, one example is when the spacecraft is used to retrieve a container that is not working properly. The container may be an ammonia container. Containers of ammonia are used to supply cooling to different modules of the space station.
Each container has an attachment piece used to extract the ammonia. The attachment piece may allow ammonia to exit when not connected. The attachment piece may also allow ammonia to exit to an outside area even when connected. The ammonia that has exited the container may accumulate in different compartments of the spacecraft. The ammonia is not desirable when accumulated in a compartment with a certain concentration.
Current systems for determining the concentrations of ammonia only identify the concentration in the compartment where the container is located. These systems take the amount of ammonia that has been leaked and determine a concentration in the compartment. However, ammonia flows to other compartments as well. Therefore, the current systems do not have an accurate measurement of ammonia in the compartment.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus, which takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as, possibly other issues.